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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23513413">He Loves the Most</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemryn/pseuds/sparkandwolf'>sparkandwolf (thatnerdemryn)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>How the Scene Should Have Gone - Sterek Edition [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Banshee Lydia Martin, Coda, Comfort, Derek Hale is Stiles Stilinski's Anchor, Episode: s03e02 Chaos Rising, First Kiss, Light Angst, M/M, Near Death Experiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:49:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,294</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23513413</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemryn/pseuds/sparkandwolf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You said Lydia was Stiles' anchor! You told her to be his anchor! Why isn’t he coming back?” Scott yelled as he felt himself losing control. His eyes darted to Stiles, his skin whitening with every passing moment and his lips turning blue. “What do we do?” Scott pleaded as he knelt next to Lydia who had her lips pressed together, biting down on them painfully. </p><p>“Stiles?” Derek pushed through the door and froze in his place.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>How the Scene Should Have Gone - Sterek Edition [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668073</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>750</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>He Loves the Most</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I know it's been done one million times, but I had to write my own little snippet of how the scene should have gone.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Why is he still under? Why can’t Lydia pull him out?” Scott’s voice was increasingly panicked as he reached into the freezing water. He barely noticed its temperature as his own skin was frigid, from the similar ice bath he had just crawled out of. Deaton’s hand on his shoulder pulled him back and he had to suppress the growl that grumbled low in his chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“His anchor has to pull him out. Lydia has to be the one to pull him out,” Deaton explained. His voice was as calm as always, but Scott could see the fear in his eyes as he watched Lydia. Her hands were on his shoulders, her own body shivering from the cold as she spoke to Stiles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, Stiles, you have to come back. I’m supposed to be the one to pull you back, but I don’t know what to do. You’ve never listened to me before, but I need you to listen to me now. Please, Stiles, listen to me and come </span>
  <em>
    <span>back</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Lydia could feel the scream rising in her throat and looked up at Scott, the panic prevalent on her face. If she screamed, it was over, they all knew it. Scott pivoted and slammed his fist into the wall before turning on Deaton. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You said Lydia was Stiles' anchor! You told her to be his anchor! Why isn’t he coming back?” Scott yelled as he felt himself losing control. His eyes darted to Stiles, his skin whitening with every passing moment and his lips turning blue. “What do we do?” Scott pleaded as he knelt next to Lydia who had her lips pressed together, biting down on them painfully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stiles?” Derek pushed through the door and froze in his place. His eyes searched the room, his own fear passing over his face when he saw Allison and Scott drenched and shivering, Isaac and Deaton looking on with pained faces, and Lydia looking back at him with wide eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Derek,” she said, her voice filled with relief. Derek stalked over to her, pushing both her and Scott out of the way before kneeling beside the tub and leaning over. He saw the fading color, the fading light, and knew that Stiles was drifting away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Derek didn’t know why he knew it had to be him, that he was the one who had to pull Stiles out, but something called to him. He had heard Stiles in his head all day; the whispers that taunted him, the laugh that seemed to brighten him with every bubble, the fading sound of sarcasm and wit that was uniquely Stiles. It had only been a few minutes without the now familiar aura of Stiles and Derek knew something was wrong. When he pulled into Deaton’s, he felt his own bones chill and his breath was knocked out of him the minute he entered the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stiles,” Derek said, his voice calmer than he felt. He expected to have to say more, to convince Stiles to come back to his friends, his family, to him. Derek didn’t realize how much he needed him back until Stiles gasped, his head breaking through the water and instinctively reaching for Derek. Derek held him, pulled him out of the tub, and let Stiles curl into him, his frigid nose pressing against Derek’s neck. Stiles was shaking, his body convulsing as it tried to warm, and Stiles pulled at Derek’s shirt like he was grasping for the heat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“D-Derek, I--” Stiles couldn’t talk, could barely breathe through the chattering of his teeth. Derek shushed him gently and wrapped his arms tighter around Stiles frail form. He breathed slowly, hoping Stiles would mimic his breath, slow and steady to stop the panic burning through Stiles’ lungs. Scott knelt beside them, resting a comforting hand on Stiles back and Lydia rested her own hand on Stiles’ knee. Derek rested his chin on Stiles’ head and closed his eyes, breathing in the fact that Stiles was safe, that he was alive and breathing in his arms. He was surrounded by those who loved him, but couldn’t pull him out and Derek didn’t have time to analyze that. That could wait until Stiles was warm and comfortable, when he could think and they could talk and… </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I knew it had to be you,” Lydia said softly as she looked up at Derek. Derek tilted his head at her as he furrowed his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes at him. “I could feel him, dying,” the word paused at her lips, like it hurt her to say it and Derek knew how that felt. “I was never supposed to be the one to pull him back. I was here, I made the most sense out of everyone else, the girl he’d been in love with for a majority of his life.” Derek raised an eyebrow at her, urging her to get to the point. He didn’t have to be reminded that Stiles loved her. He thought about it every day, every hour, every minute, how Stiles’ heart was someone else's. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then why couldn’t you do it?” Scott accused, the bitterness seeping from his tone. Lydia gestured toward Derek; the way Stiles was clinging to him, a hand over his beating heart and the synchrony of their breathing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I may be the one he’s loved the longest, but I’m not the one he loves the </span>
  <em>
    <span>most</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” The minute the words left Lydia’s lips, Stiles took a deep breath, the steadiest since he exited the tub. Derek’s heart jumped as he peered down to catch Stiles’ gaze. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s right, you know?” Stiles stuttered. Derek wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or from fear, though he could understand either. He leaned his forehead against Stiles’ and closed his eyes, breathing in his own steady breath to control the rapid beating of his heart. Stiles let go of the tight grip on Derek’s shirt and reached up to place his cold fingers on Derek’s cheek. Derek’s hand covered it in an instant as he leaned into the touch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The touch said everything either of them needed to know. Derek’s screamed, ‘I will protect you’, ‘I trust you’, ‘I’m so scared of losing you’ while Stiles’ whispered, ‘I know’ and ‘me too’. Without a word, they said ‘I love you’ louder than they ever could have said it out loud. Derek let out a shaky breath as Stiles’ shivering subsided and opened his eyes to finally see the truth in his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t do that again, okay?” Derek pleaded, his own voice betraying him with a tremble. Stiles nodded and pushed up his chin, his now warm breath ghosting across Derek’s lips. Both of them were aware of the eyes on them; the surprise, confusion, acceptance, and smug looks on their friends' faces, but neither of them could care. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Derek moved the rest of the way, Stiles’ still frigid lips parting under his as he inhaled through his nose. Their lips moved slowly, Stiles’ warming up with every soft and slow brush, Derek holding him even closer as the seconds went on. Stiles pulled away first, the color in his cheeks finally returning and the color in his lips back to their perfect pink tone. Derek ran his thumb over Stiles’ bottom lip before pressing a lingering kiss on his forehead and pushing his head back into his neck. He held onto him, like he was scared to let him go. He wouldn’t admit that he was, not in front of their audience, but he would tell Stiles. He was going to tell Stiles everything once it was all over and they had a moment to catch their breaths. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Stiles would tell him everything he’d ever wanted to hear, too. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have a <a href="https://sparkandwolf.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> specifically for my Sterek obsession so feel free to follow it for updates and snippets and other Sterek content and use my ask to send me prompts, coda ideas, or just scream with me about Sterek. </p><p>Also, feel free to follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/thatnerdemilyj">Twitter</a> and let me know what you think. </p><p>Please, please, please let me know your thought in the comments and leave kudos if you enjoyed it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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